Cover0815Things are fantastic in our fine little city of Puerto Peñasco: the weather has been wonderful, the town continues to see street and other infrastructure improvements, the cruise ship pier continues at a steady pace, our monstrous highway overpass is zipping along, and summer tourism is busy with an influx of visitors from Texas. I know all of the construction is a pain but the city looks so much prettier when it’s finished and with the increase in tourism this year it’s nice to see things moving along. I can’t even imagine what our city will look like when that first cruise ship pulls into port.

I don’t much like giving street construction updates since it seems once the paper hits the streets all of the zones written about have been completed and they’ve started somewhere else, but…here it goes: Benito Juarez is open as is Samuel Ocaña. The railroad track crossing area in front of Pane e Vino Restaurant is currently open, but that seems to be a hot spot with frequent detours. Paving has started on Blvd. Josefa Dominguez, but it is currently open as is Chihuahua (behind the shrimp park). Remember that you can always check our Facebook page for construction updates or email Alicia at rockypointtimes@yahoo.com. Sandy. Mario and Alicia are very excited that the Rocky Point Times Facebook page has reached 7,000 likes from people in 46 different countries. What did we ever do before Facebook, Google and smart phones?

Two weeks ago we took a trip to Hermosillo for a couple days and drove the Peñasco-Caborca Hwy. I think it was in the worst condition I have ever seen and I’ve been here over 20 years! Potholes big enough to hide cows in were unavoidable and staying in your lane was impossible so driving was pretty much a free for all. Whoever had the biggest cajones or the biggest vehicle got the right of way. Thank you defensive driving skills. The highway, most of the time, is in bad shape, but this was downright dangerous. BUT good news…we just heard that it is being repaired and that the city is doing it without state support. Hwy 2 from Sonoyta to Caborca is in very nice shape (which is the way we took on our return trip) but I like riding the coast and looking at all of the scenery so I for one am glad to hear that the road is being repaired. It didn’t make much sense to me that the road was not kept in tip-top shape since the big beautiful Coastal Highway cuts into it in the middle of nowhere. Seems like the Coastal Highway should be continued up this way. It’s nice that it goes to Desemboque, Puerto Lobos and Puerto Libertdad but if we don’t have easy access to it it seems a giant waste of good road.

So, a couple things about our trip to Hermosillo…I haven’t been south of Peñasco in maybe almost two years – maybe a little less. So imagine my surprise when, a little ways into Caborca, there were no vehicles travelling with me yet tons coming at me. Yup, it is a one-way drive through the entire town. I didn’t see any signs and obviously was too busy sightseeing to notice the flow of traffic. One nice gentleman gave a couple honks to let us know we were going to the wrong way only I didn’t know he was honking at us until I yelled to Wayne to GET OFF THE ROAD! Whew. So we jogged around and found that the next road over was another one-way straight out of town. Luckily we don’t have “road rage” here and people get over stupidity quickly. The rest of the way was smooth sailing with gorgeous wide highways, polite drivers, lots of gas stations and pit stop areas. Hermosillo was about the same as I remember – lots of people and shopping, restaurants and things to do. My one big discovery on this trip (besides learning that Caborca was one-way) was aged prime rib. OMG! I know that Sonoran beef is some of the best beef around but not being a big beef eater I never really cared except to tell other people. Well, we had dinner at the Sonoran Steak House where they have aged prime rib that you order by the weight. It was so good that we went back there a 2nd night. Everything was fabulous and I highly recommend you go there when you are in town. In fact I liked the steak so much that we found a local meat market that sold aged prime rib steaks and brought a bunch home. Now we just have to figure out how to cook them like they did…we are getting closer, but our steak stock is diminishing. Anyone up for a trip to Hermosillo? Their Costco is fantastic!!

On a similar, but separate topic, when we went to Mexicali back in June there was a new agricultural checkpoint on the west side of the highway where the permanent military checkpoint is on the Coastal Highway between San Luis and El Golfo de Santa Clara. They asked us where we were coming from and if we had any fruits, vegetables, birds, etc. Yes, birds. I think he may have meant poultry, like chicken, which we had a lot of, but we said no, no birds. The back of the Hummer was so stuffed full from 4 of us shopping at Costco that when he opened the back to inspect he just shook his head and shut the hatch. So, not wanting to ask him any questions at the time since we may have been carrying contraband, I am wondering if the checkpoint is there because it is between the Baja and Sonora – like going from Arizona to California. And if we are carrying fruits and veggies (and birds) from the Baja, will they just be inspected or will we have to relinquish them? We will find out, but if any of our readers have passed there since June, please let us know what your experience has been. There have been some agricultural issues of late so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Mexico stepping up their efforts. We had a similar stop between Hermosillo and Santa Ana, but he didn’t ask as many questions of us even though I am pretty sure I saw agricultural info posted. But from there back to Peñasco we remain in the State of Sonora.

I do have to say that I am very happy to be where I am in Rocky Point this summer with all the wacky weather that’s been going on. I was a little miffed when May wasn’t our most perfect month as it is most every other year. But I was so thankful to get back home after being in Phoenix when temperatures were in the 115 neighborhood. And add a little humidity on top of that and oh boy, nasty. I am much happier right here by the Sea of Cortez. I invite everyone to come down this summer and join me on the beach where we can have a cold one and check out the Mexican Navy who will have lifeguards on the beach through August 23rd. Watch out, lifeguard stands may be next. That would be cool.